At COP17, the EU wants to find “ways” to make large emerging countries pay

The European Union insisted on Tuesday at COP17 on biodiversity in Armenia that it was looking for “ways” to involve large emerging countries, which are reluctant to put their hands in their pockets, more into financing nature protection.

“It is essential to find ways to broaden the base of contributors to this convention in a way that is in line with evolving economic realities,” said European Commissioner for the Environment, Jessika Roswall, in Yerevan where the international summit is being held. Negotiators from nearly 200 countries have until Friday to resolve their differences over the donor issue and other sticking points before the summit closes. Around 70 ministers are on site to try to move the negotiations forward, according to the COP17 presidency.

The United Nations Convention on Biodiversity was adopted in 1992, imposing an obligation on developed countries to help finance conservation efforts in developing countries. The list of donor countries mainly includes European countries, but also other developed industrialized countries such as Japan, Australia and Canada. The United States did not attend the convention and is therefore not on this list.

“It's clear that if we want to fund nature restoration and species conservation adequately, we need to expand that donor base,” Christopher O'Sullivan, Ireland's minister for nature, told reporters on Tuesday. “This is a position we will maintain,” added Christopher O’Sullivan, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. The EU argues that times have changed since the early 1990s and the global economic landscape has evolved. The desire of developed countries to expand the circle of contributors comes up against “resistance”, the office of French Minister of Ecological Transition Monique Barbut already indicated a few days ago. This subject has also been for several years one of the points of stumbling and tension during the COPs devoted to the climate. To date, the discussions have still not been concluded. The lack of financial resources constitutes a major obstacle to achieving the 2030 biodiversity objectives and a central theme of the Yerevan summit.

AFP requested comments from a representative of the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment present at the Yerevan talks, without obtaining a response.